Furniture piece with wavy vertical supports

ABSTRACT

A piece of furniture includes two vertical members each formed from a wavy sheet of material having alternating parallel horizontal crests and depressions on opposing surfaces thereof. A shelf is supported at opposite ends by bearing gaskets secured to opposite ends of the shelf with each bearing gasket disposed between two successive crests on a respective vertical member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical field

The present invention relates to a structure for a piece of furnitureand to a piece of furniture including that structure.

2. Background art

There are known pieces of furniture comprising one or more shelves whichcan be positioned at different heights on uprights provided withsuitable support means.

Basically, the support means must be enough strong such as to bear ashelf, including a reasonable load on the shelf. Besides it is oftenrequired that the support means allow easy positioning of the shelves,i.e. both allow a certain choice for the height where to position eachshelf and allow unlimited removal and repositioning of the shelf.

In general, where easy positioning is required, shelves are simplerectangular boards, while the support means are variously shaped bodiesfixed to the uprights and projecting therefrom.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The object of this invention is to provide a structure for a piece offurniture and hence a piece of furniture which allow easy positioning ofthe shelves.

Therefore, the invention relates to a structure for a piece offurniture, including at least a vertical board forming an upright, atleast an horizontal board forming a shelf, and support means forsupporting the shelf on the upright at predetermined heights,characterized in that the upright has at least a wavy surface in whichparallel horizontal crests and depressions succeed each other, thesupport means comprising such crests.

With this structure, each shelf is positioned on the upright byinserting the edge of the shelf in any of the depressions of thesurface, with a drawer-like operation. Once inserted, the edge of theshelf rests onto the underlying crest.

The support for each shelf provided by a crest of the wavy surface ofthe upright is particularly strong, since it is not confined to a numberof points but rather it is extended to the whole length of the edge ofthe shelf. Moreover, the easy positioning of the shelf is ensured by thevery simple drawer-like operation for inserting and removing it, as wellas by the very high number of positions available for the height of eachshelf.

In a piece of furniture, each upright may support shelves on one sideonly or on both sides. Thus, preferably, both surfaces of the uprightare equally wavy, the vertical board being itself wavy as a whole,shaped according to a succession of waves. This allows to use theupright in case support of shelves either on only one side or on bothsides is required.

Moreover, shaping a whole board according to a wave is in generalsimpler than shaping only one surface thereof. In fact, with mostmaterials a wavy board can be obtained by deformation of a flat board,while obtaining only a wavy surface and leaving the other surface flatgenerally requires machining of the board, by milling or the like.

The shelf can rest directly onto the crest of the upright. Preferably,however, the shelf is provided with a bearing gasket along its edgeintended to be supported by the crests of the upright. The gasket canperform several useful tasks, such as to ensure high friction and avoidslipping, or to conform the shelf to the exact shape of the wave withouthaving to shape the edge of the shelf itself, or to smooth the contactbetween the shelf and the upright, or even to avoid direct contactbetween the upright and the shelf if such a contact can cause problems.

In a particularly interesting embodiment of the invention, the verticaland horizontal boards are made of glass and the bearing gasket is madeof a resilient material--preferably transparent--adhered to the edge ofthe board. In fact, in case of pieces of furniture integrally made withglass, the invention allows to have effective support means withouthaving to introduce support elements of different material, which wouldaffect the aestetic impact of the whole-glass structure. The resilientgasket (which is practically invisible if made with transparent materialsuch as silicone rubber or the like) avoids possible damages to theglass even when the shelf is handled without care.

A structure according to the invention can be advantageously used formaking various pieces of furniture, in which there are several uprightsand shelves. Not necessarily all of the uprights are made according tothe invention, it being well possible to have in the same piece offurniture uprights according to the invention and conventional uprights.

In a specific aspect, the invention relates to a piece of furniture,including a base, a top, at least two vertical boards forming respectiveuprights fixed to the base and the top, at least an horizontal boardforming a shelf, and support means for supporting the shelf on theuprights at predetermined heights, characterized in that the uprightshave wavy opposing surfaces in which parallel horizontal crests anddepressions succeed each other, the support means comprising suchcrests.

Preferably, both surfaces of the uprights are equally wavy, the verticalboards being itself wavy as a whole, shaped according to a succession ofwaves.

Preferably, the shelf is provided with bearing gaskets along its edgesintended to be supported by the crests of the uprights.

Preferably, the vertical and horizontal boards are made of glass and thebearing gaskets are made of a resilient material adhered to the edges ofthe board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a piece of furniture--namely abookcase--according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged scale perspective view of a detail of the bookcaseof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the detail of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4 to 6 show the same detail in three alternative embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another piece of furniture--again abookcase--according to the invention.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A piece of furniture 1, in particular a bookcase, includes an horizontalbase 2 intended to rest on a floor, two vertical uprights 3a and 3b, atop 5 and some shelves 6. The uprights 3a and 3b are fixed to the base 2and to the top 5 so as to form a solid body. Optionally, the piece offurniture may include also a back 7 and a front door 8.

The uprights 3a and 3b comprise respective vertical boards 9a and 9b andeach shelf comprises a respective horizontal board 11, the indicationsvertical and horizontal being referred to the normal position of use ofthe piece of furniture 1.

The vertical boards 9a and 9b of the uprights 3a and 3b are wavy, i.e.are shaped according to a succession of waves including crests anddepressions.

More precisely, the surface of the board 9a opposing the board 9b andcorrespondingly the surface of the board 9b opposing the board 9a areprovided with parallel horizontal crests--all indicated with 12--anddepressions--all indicated with 13--which succeed each other. Theindication "crest" or "depression" is referred to a specific surface orside of the board, being clear that where there is a crest on a side ofa board there is a depression on the other side of the same board.

The shape of the wavy boards 9a and 9b is preferably that of asinusoidal wave, having a pitch of 40 to 80 mm. The waves of the twouprights 3a and 3b are in phase opposition, i.e. the crests 12 of theboard 9a facing the board 9b are at the same height as the crests 12 ofthe board 9b facing the board 9a, as well as the depressions 13 of theboard 9a facing the board 9b are at the same height as the depressions13 of the board 9b facing the board 9a.

The wavy shape of the boards 9a and 9b, and in particular the crests 12,operate as support means for the shelves 6, whose horizontal boards 11have width which is greater than the free width between two opposingcrests 12 and smaller than the free width between two opposingdepressions 13. In this way, the shelves 6 can be inserted in thedepressions 13, being supported by the crests 12 in correspondence ofedges 14 of the boards 11.

The edges 14 are advantageously provided with bearing gaskets 15, madeof resilient material such as silicone rubber or the like. Gaskets 15are fixed to the boards by gluing or the like.

In the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the edges 14 of theboards 11 are bevelled, to give a better resting on the inclined surfaceof the crests 12. In this case, the gasket 15 has an inclined section,matching the inclination of the edges 14 and the crests 12.

Alternatively, in a second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the edges 14'have no bevelling and are provided with gaskets 15' having triangular ortrapezoidal section. Shaping of the board 11 is simpler, but support maybe not enough strong.

A third embodiment shown in FIG. 5 provides for the same shape for theedges 14" , i.e. without bevelling, while the gaskets 15" have the shapeof a circular segment, thus allowing positioning of the shelf 6 aboutthe middle of the depression 13. Such positioning may be more stable,although removal and repositioning of the shelf become more difficult.

In a fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 6 the edges 14"' are rounded; thegaskets 15"' have an arcuate shape, to match the edges 14"' and thecrests 12. Also in this case, the shelf 6 is positioned about the middleof the depression 13. This embodiment is substantially equivalent to theprevious one, with a more complicated shaping of the board 11.

Another piece of furniture is shown at 21 in FIG. 7. The piece offurniture 21 (again a bookcase) includes an horizontal base 22 intendedto rest on a floor, three vertical uprights 23a, 23b and 23c, a top 25and some shelves 26. The uprights 23a, 23b and 23c are fixed to the base22 and to the top 25 so as to form a solid body.

Uprights 23a, 23b and 23c have the same characteristics as uprights 3aand 3b of the piece of furniture 1, i.e. comprise wavy vertical boards29a and 29b with crests 32 and depressions 33. Similarly, shelves 26have the the same characteristics as shelves 6 of the piece of furniture1, i.e. comprise rectangular horizontal boards 31.

In the piece of furniture 21 it should be noted that upright 23csupports shelves 26 on both surfaces.

In a piece of furniture according to the invention, support of theshelves is particularly strong, being extended to the whole length ofthe edges of the shelves.

Besides, positioning of the shelves is very easy. Indeed, the heightwhere to put a shelf can be selected among a very high number ofpossibilities, and removal and repositioning of a shelf can be easilyperformed with a drawer-like operation.

Pieces of furniture 1 and 21 as shown are made of glass, in the sensethat all vertical and horizontal boards as well as the bases and thetops are made of glass; only gaskets are made of a transparent polimericmaterial, preferably silicone rubber. Manufacturing of the wavy verticalboards can be performed by starting from a flat board, laying it onto agrid formed by a succession of rods, heating it to the temperature wherethe glass begins to soften and to deform around the rods, and cooling itas soon as the desired shape is obtained. Fixing of the bases and topsto the uprights can be performed by tonguing and gluing.

In glass furniture the invention will be particularly appreciated, sinceit allows to avoid the use of unaesthetic joints to support the shelves.

What is claimed is:
 1. A structure for a piece of furniture comprisingat least one vertical board forming an upright, at least one horizontalboard forming a shelf, support means for supporting the shelf on theupright at a predetermined height, wherein said upright is made of glassand has equally wavy opposing surfaces with alternating horizontalcrests and depressions on said opposing surfaces with the crests on onesurface being offset vertically with respect to the crests on anopposing surface, said support means are comprised of said crests andsaid vertical board is wavy over the entire length of the verticalboard, wherein the shelf is supported on the vertical board by theinterposition of a bearing gasket secured to an end edge of the shelfand having a thickness substantially equal to the thickness of theshelf, the bearing gasket is disposed between two of said successivecrests of the vertical board and has limited contact with the verticalboard and the shelf.
 2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein saidat least one horizontal board is made of glass and the bearing gasket ismade of a resilient material adhered to an end edge of the horizontalboard.
 3. A piece of furniture comprising a base, a top and at least twovertical boards forming respective uprights fixed to the base and thetop, at least one horizontal board forming a shelf, support means forsupporting the shelf on the upright at a predetermined height, whereinthe uprights are made of glass and have equally wavy opposing surfaceswith alternating parallel horizontal crests and depressions on saidopposing surfaces with the crests on one surface being offset verticallywith respect to the crests on an opposing surface, said support meansare comprised of said crests and said vertical boards are wavy over theentire length of the vertical boards, wherein the shelf is supported onthe vertical boards by the interposition of bearing gaskets secured toopposite end edges of the shelf and having a thickness substantiallyequal to the thickness of the shelf, the bearing gaskets being disposedbetween two successive crests of each vertical board and having limitedcontact zones with the vertical boards and the shelf.
 4. The structureaccording to claim 3, wherein the at least one horizontal board is madeof glass and the bearing gaskets are made of a resilient materialadhered to the opposite end edges of the horizontal board.